Bathtub



Fe bQ 18, 1936.- 'H. DEUBELBEISS I L BATHTUB Filed. March 7, 1954 INVENTOR H S DEUBELBE 9 z. waw

A'ITO BLTE Y Patented Feb. 18, 1936 I :1 i

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE BATHTUB Hans S. Deubelbeiss, Montreal, Quebec, Canada Application- March 7, 1934, Serial No. 714,483 In Canada January 11, 1934 4 Claims. (01. 4-473) This invention relates to expansion joints for in the manner characteristic of built-in bath tub use between the wall finish of a room and fixinstallations, the end edges of the apron l totures such as bath tubs, wash basins. shower gether with the rear and end edges of the rim 6 basins, sinks, urinals and the likeor between the. being positioned close to the unfinished wall sur 5 wall finish and adjacent portions of the flooring. face 9. Angle ba I are a a ed n d to e d In the present instance theinvention will be e ation upon e rea d d d Portions of described as embodied in a bath tub installation h rim 5 a d a e fi y anchored in Place y of the built-in type in which therim and apron suitable screw clamps ll. Each angle bar l preportions of the tub are ordinarily fitted against SentS horizontal leg Which rests o e im 10 the studding or rough plaster of-the wallstrucand a Vertical leg b which extends up y ture and cemented to the tiling or other'wall fr m th n r d f th horizontal leg e t finish to provide leak-proof joints. In such inp vid a flange p p d a t the p a o th stallations relative movement between the wall The legs e a d of a h a e bar are and tub is inevitable owing to settling and/or preferably j i d t t r at int rvals alo expansion and contraction of the tub. This their length y Suitable reinforcing Webs 15 opens up the mortar joints between the wall and tween Which the Screw Clamps l l a at d. AS the rim and apron portions of the tub and fro.. here shown each clamp H has its lower end bent quently causes cracking or breaking of the tiling t0 provide heok I engaging h lower Surface or wall finish. Aside from thus damaging the 0f the rim 6 and s upper end bent to P vide a 20 wall and the general appearance of the installahOTiZontel Screw Carrying portion lb r u 20 tion the opening of the joints gives rise to adwhich a clamping Screw lie is threaded into enditional damage where the tub is equipped with e s m nt w th o i a leg l of one of a shower attachment since water from the showthe angle bars.

er head is permitted to enter the spacesbetween A Series of 240915 arranged in end to end th t and t wall structure relation, are attached to the unfinished wall sur- 25 with th foregoing in mind, t is particular face 9 so as to extend horizontally along said object of this invention to provide an improved Surface immediately above the rear and d edges bath tub installation in which the rim and apron of the tub rim Eeeh Z-bar l3 P s 6 Ve portions of the tub are slidably fitted to the tiling tieel flange a tta d to e wa su ac o th n finish t provide expansible 1 a horizontal flange l3b which extends outwardly 30";

r f joints permitting relative movement from the lower edge of said vertical flange and tween the wall and tub to take place without an Outer Vertical flange depending f om the opening up th joints or causing th damage outer edge of the horizontal flange. As shown to A further object is to provide an expansion advantage in 1 the d p g flan s I30 joint of simple and inexpensive design that may of the overlap and conceal the pp D 35 be used wherever it is necessary to provide for tions of the vertical fla ele s fl of relative movement between the wall finish and the angle bars Sealing Strips are P e toilet, plumbing, or other fixtures or between the ably fasten d to the Z ba fl n I30 to engage wall finish and the flooring. the opposing flanges lllb so that a leak-proof 40 Proceeding now to a more detailed description expansion joint is t p d b t e t e 40 reference will be had to the accompanying draw- Well 9 and the rim P o s of the tub- The ing wherein, horizontal flanges l3b of the Z-bars form abut- Fig. 1 is a view, partly in vertical section and, ment shoulders for the edge portions of the rough partly in perspective, of a bath tub installation plaster l5 and the e finish Surrounding the 5 embodying one form of expansion joint designed tub. in accordance with my invention. The exposed surfaces of the Z-bar flanges Fig. 2 is a vertical section along the line 2--2 I36: and the angle bar flanges lllb may be paintof Fig. 1. ed, enamelled or otherwise ornamented to give a Fig. 3 is a horizontal section along the line 3--3 pleasing appearance. The enamel may be apof Fig. 1. plied to these flanges in any desired color to 50 Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 2' but showing a give the appearance of an ornamented border further modification. between the tile finish l6 and the rim and apron In the construction shown in Figs. 1 and 2, 5 portions of the tub or it may be applied in such designates a standard metal tub provided with a way as to simulate a tile pattern similar to that p the usual rim 6 and apron I. The tub is installed afforded by the adjacent tiling I6. 55

Between each end of the apron 1 and the adjacent surface of the wall 9 there is provided an expansion joint which is a duplicate of the expansion joints provided between the wall and the rear and end edge portions of the rim 6. As shown to advantage in Fig. 3 a vertically extending angle bar 11 corresponding to the previously described angle bars I0 is secured to each end of the apron l by clamps 18 which are exactly the same as the clamps ll. Each angle bar I! presents a flange Ha which is overlapped by the flange I911, of the Z-bar l9 which corresponds to the previously described Z-bar I 3 in every respect except that it is attached to the wall to extend vertically instead of horizontally.

Fig. 4 shows a slight modification in which each of the angle bars I0 is replaced by a slightly different form of angle bar generally indicated at 2|. In this case the horizontal leg 22 of the angle bar is fastened to the tub rim 6 by a screw 23 and the vertical leg l4 extends upwardly from the inner edge of the horizontal leg. The joint between the tub rim 6 and the horizontal leg 22 of the angle bar is also rendered waterproof by a thin layer of cement or other waterproof agent indicated at 24.

Having thus described what I now consider to be the preferred embodiments of my invention it will be understod that I reserve the right to such further modifications as fall within the scope and spirit of the invention as defined by the appended claims. For example, the angle bars carried by the rim and apron elements of the tub may be soldered or welded in place or may be produced as integral extensions of said rim and apron elements. It will also be understood that the expansion joints of the present invention are not confined to bath tub installations but are intended to be employed wherever they can be usefully applied.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:-

1. A bath tub installation comprising a tub presenting marginal members lying close to and parallel with unfinished side wall surfaces of the room in which the tub is installed, said tub resting directly on the floor of the room free of attachment to the side walls and being thus free to follow settling movements of said floor, a plaster or tile finishing wall on the sides of the room beyond the side wall area concealed by the tub, said finishing wall presenting edge portions lying adjacent to the aforesaid marginal members of the tub, and flange-forming elements projecting beyond the said edges of the finishing wall into overlapping relation with the inner surfaces of the marginal members of the tub to form a slip joint closing the gap between the tub and the finishing wall.

2. A bath tub installation as claimed in claim 1 in which the flange forming elements are constituted by flanges of metal bars secured to the unfinished wall surface of the room in contact with the said edges of the finishing wall.

3. A bath tub installation comprising a tub presenting marginal members lying close to and parallel with unfinished side wall surfaces of the room in which the tub is installed, structural metal bars rigidly attached to said unfinished wall surface in close proximity to the said marginal members of the tub, each bar presenting a flange attached to said wall surface and lying parallel therewith, a second flange projecting outwardly at right angles to said first flange, and a third flange projecting at right angles to said second flange into overlapping relation with the inner surfaces of the adjacent marginal member of the tub, and a finishing wall on the sides of the room presenting edge portions abutting the second mentioned flanges of the adjacent structural bars.

4. A bath tub installation comprising a tub presenting marginal portions lying close to and parallel with unfinished side wall surfaces of the room in which the tub is installed, said tub being unattached to the side walls of the room and free to follow the settling movements of the floor on which it rests, a finishing wall on the sides of the room beyond the unfinished wall area concealed by the tub, said finishing wall presenting terminal edges spaced from the aforesaid marginal portions of the tub, metal flanges extending outwardly from the unfinished wall portion of the room in contact with the aforesaid edges of the finishing wall, and other flanges extending at right angles to the first mentioned flanges into overlapping relation with the inner surfaces of adjacent marginal members of the tub, said last mentioned flanges serving to close the gap between the first mentioned flanges and the marginal members of the tub.

HANS S. DEUBELBEISS. 

